Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
— Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT)
We have been talking about walking away from old habits and patterns of responding and reacting to life. The above verses indicate how we are to do this.
I always thought that I had to change to become like Jesus. I was told that the old man was still living in me. When I accepted Jesus by declaring him to be Lord of my life and believing that he was raised from the dead, I got saved. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that at that time I became a new person. It does not tell me to change even though many pastors and teachers I listened to over the years did tell me to change. The word of God does not tell me that.
Also, when I tell myself that I need to change, I am really telling myself that I am not what I should be. Therefore, I work at being better through will power. How hard is that because will power doesn’t do the job. I may be able to get better for a while, but it doesn’t last.
I’m saying when I realize that I am in Christ, I see myself as a completely different person, a new person, because I took part in his death, burial and resurrection. So when I got baptized and went down under the water, I came up a different, yes, a new person.
Understanding that I am a NEW PERSON causes me to look at myself differently. Hallelujah, my old man has passed away along with old things. Now all things are new, including me.
That is good news! However, I still find myself doing some of the things I did before and old patterns pop up. What is wrong?
My thoughts say, “perhaps you are not really saved because you still have some old wrong ways of doing things”. I can agree with those defeating thoughts and agree with people who say you’ve just got to change OR I can read in the Bible again what happened to me and I can say, “I am not that old person.”
Old patterns that have been established and ways I see myself still pop up in my mind from my past, but that is not the real me after salvation. So what do I do? The verse above says to throw off (put off) your old way of life. Say, “self pity or anger or anxiety (whatever is bugging you) I don’t want you, I don’t need you. You do not benefit me, so I put you off”. You are refusing this old habit by sending it away and saying I’m not that person anymore. You are free to be the “new” you.
Next, it is very important that you put on the new you, who God now says you are. Continue with, “I put on the new creation. I am a new creation. I am accepted in the beloved. I am wanted. I put on peace. I am calm in the midst of this storm.” Your confession of the new you is based on scripture and it’s good to know the scripture because it enforces the truth about yourself. You are now stepping into who God created you to be. Words that used to come out of your mouth don’t anymore.
Doing this only one time is not enough. Many moments throughout the day, you must remind yourself that you are not that “old” person. As you speak these words, imagine yourself as a person loved by God, living as Jesus lived, staying calm and responding with confidence and faith, the new you. As you speak words of truth about who you are, you begin to see yourself as the new person, transformed. So put off, put on!
“It is not living for Him but from Him”
God Lives Outside Of Time